The 1935 German football championship, the 28th edition of the competition, was won by Schalke 04 by defeating VfB Stuttgart 6–4 in the final. It was Schalke's second consecutive championship and second overall, with four more titles to follow until 1942 and a seventh one in 1958. For Stuttgart it was the club's first appearance in the final, with three more to follow between 1950 and 1953.[1][2][3]

The 1935 final produced the most goals scored in a final during the history of the competition, exceeding the nine scored in the 1903 and 1930 final.[1] Schalke's Ernst Poertgen became the 1935 championship's top scorer with eleven goals.[4]

The sixteen 1934–35Gauliga champions competed in a group stage of four groups of four teams each, with the group winners advancing to the semi-finals. The two semi-final winners then contested the 1935 championship final.[5]

1.
FC Schalke 04
–
The 04 in the clubs name derives from its formation in 1904. Schalke play in the Bundesliga, the top tier of the German football league system, as of December 2015, the club has 140,000 members, making it the second-largest sports club in Germany and the sixth-largest sports club in the world in terms of membership. Other activities offered by the club include athletics, basketball, handball, table tennis, winter sports, founded in 1904, Schalke has won seven German championships, five DFB-Pokals, one DFL-Supercup and one UEFA Cup. Since 2001, Schalkes stadium is the Veltins-Arena, Schalke was ranked as the seventh-best football team in Europe by UEFAs 2015 UEFA club rankings. In terms of operating income, Schalke possesses the seventh-highest operating income of any club at $64.4 million or £38.2 million. Schalke also generates the 14th-highest revenue of any club, at $265.6 million or £157.8 million. In May 2014, Schalke 04 were ranked by Forbes magazine as the 14th-most valuable football club, at £355 million or $599 million, the club was founded on 4 May 1904 as Westfalia Schalke by a group of high school students and first wore the colours red and yellow. The team was unable to gain admittance to the Westdeutscher Spielverband, in 1912, after years of failed attempts to join the official league, they merged with the gymnastic club Schalker Turnverein 1877 in order to facilitate their entry. This arrangement held up until 1915 when SV Westfalia Schalke was re-established as an independent club, the separation proved short-lived and the two came together again in 1919 as Turn- und Sportverein Schalke 1877. The new club won its first honours in 1923 as champions of the Schalke Kreisliga, in 1924, the football team parted ways with the gymnasts again, this time taking the club chairman along with them. They took the name FC Schalke 04 and adopted the now familiar blue, the following year, the club became the dominant local side, based on a style of play that used short, sharp, man-to-man passing to move the ball. This system would become famous as the Schalker Kreisel. In 1927, it carried them into the top-flight Gauliga Ruhr, onto the league championship, the popular club built a new stadium, the Glückauf-Kampfbahn, in 1928, and acknowledged the citys support by renaming themselves FC Gelsenkirchen-Schalke 04. However, the ban had little impact on the popularity, in their first game after the ban against Fortuna Düsseldorf, in June 1931. The clubs fortunes begun to rise from 1931 and they made a appearance in the 1932 German championship. The year after, the club went all the way to the final and this league saw Schalkes most successful decade in their history, from 1933 to 1942, the club would appear in 14 of 18 national finals and win their league in every one of its eleven seasons. Schalkes first national title came in 1934 with a 2–1 victory over favourites 1, the next year, they successfully defended their title against VfB Stuttgart with a 6–4 win. The club missed the 1936 final, but would make appearances in the match in each of the next six years

2.
VfB Stuttgart
–
Verein für Bewegungsspiele Stuttgart 1893 e. V. commonly known as VfB Stuttgart, is a German sports club based in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg. The club is best known for its team which is part of Germanys second division 2. VfB Stuttgart has won the championship five times, most recently in 2006–07. The football team plays its games at the Mercedes-Benz Arena. Second team side VfB Stuttgart II currently plays in the Regionalliga Südwest, the clubs junior teams have won the national U19 championships a record ten times and the Under 17 Bundesliga six times. A membership-based club with over 50,0000 members, VfB is the largest sports club in Baden-Württemberg and it has departments for fistball, hockey, track and field, table-tennis and football referees, all of which compete only at the amateur level. The club also maintains a department, the VfB-Garde. Verein für Bewegungsspiele Stuttgart was formed through 2 April 1912 merger of predecessor sides Stuttgarter FV, Stuttgarter Fußballverein was founded at the Zum Becher hotel in Stuttgart on 9 September 1893. FV were initially a rugby club, playing games at Stöckach-Eisbahn before moving to Cannstatter Wasen in 1894, the rugby club established a football section in 1908. Rugby was soon replaced by football within the club, as found the game too complicated to follow. In 1909, FV joined the Süddeutschen Fußballverband, playing in the second tier B-Klasse and they eventually advanced to the senior Südkreis-Liga in 1912. Cannstatter Fußballklub was formed as a club in 1890 and also quickly established a football team. This club was dissolved after just a few years of play, the new team joined the Süddeutschen Fußballverband as a second division club and won promotion in 1904. Krone possessed their own ground, which exists today as the home of TSV Münster. The club also made appearances in the final rounds of the SFV in the late 1920s. In 1933, VfB moved to Neckar Stadium, the site of its current ground, German football was re-organized that same year under the Third Reich into sixteen top-flight divisions called Gauligen. The club had a rivalry with Stuttgarter Kickers throughout this period. After a third-place result at the level in 1937, Stuttgart was not able to advance out of the preliminary rounds in subsequent appearances

3.
Hertha BSC
–
Hertha, Berliner Sport-Club e. V. commonly known as Hertha BSC, Hertha Berlin or simply Hertha, is a German association football club based in the Charlottenburg locality of Berlin. Hertha BSC play in the Bundesliga, the division of German football. Bundesliga table at the end of the 2012–13 season, Hertha BSC was founded in 1892, and was a founding member of the German Football Association in Leipzig in 1900. The team won the German championship in 1930 and 1931, since 1963, Herthas stadium has been the Olympiastadion. The club is known as Die Alte Dame in German, which translates to The Old Lady, in 2002, the sports activities of the professional, amateur, and under-19 teams were separated into Hertha BSC GmbH & Co. The name Hertha is a variation on Nerthus referring to fertility goddess from Germanic mythology, Hertha performed consistently well on the field, including a win in the first Berlin championship final in 1905. In May 1910, Hertha won a match against Southend United. However, their success was not matched financially and in 1920 the staunchly working-class Hertha merged with the well-heeled club Berliner Sport-Club to form Hertha Berliner Sport-Club. The new team continued to enjoy success in the Oberliga Berlin-Brandenburg. Notwithstanding, Hertha emerged as the Germanys second most successful team during the inter-war years, German football was re-organized under the Third Reich in 1933 into 16 top-flight divisions, which saw Hertha playing in the Gauliga Berlin-Brandenburg. The club continued to enjoy success within their division, regularly finishing in the half of the table. It faded from prominence, however, unable to advance out of the rounds of the national championship rounds. Politically, the club was overhauled under Hitler, with Hans Pfeifer, after World War II, occupying Allied authorities banned most organizations in Germany, including sports and football clubs. Hertha was re-formed late in 1945 as SG Gesundbrunnen and resumed play in the Oberliga Berlin – Gruppe C, by the end of 1949, it had re-claimed their identity as Hertha BSC and earned a return to the top-flight. Tensions between the western Allies and the Soviets occupying various sectors of the city, and the developing Cold War, led to chaotic conditions for football in the capital. Hertha was banned from playing against East German teams in the 1949–50 season after taking on several players, a number of sides from the eastern half of the city were forced from the Oberliga Berlin to the newly established DDR-Liga beginning with the 1950–51 season. Through the 1950s, a rivalry developed with Tennis Borussia Berlin. A proposal for a merger between the two clubs in 1958 was resoundingly rejected, with three of the 266 members voting in favour

4.
Hannover 96
–
Hannoverscher Sportverein von 1896, commonly referred to as Hannover 96, Hannover, HSV or simply 96, is a German association football club based in the city of Hanover, Lower Saxony. Hannover 96 play in the 2, Bundesliga, the second tier in the German football league system. Hannover 96 was founded in 1896, Hannover have won two German championships and one DFB-Pokal. Hannover 96 has a rivalry with VfL Wolfsburg and Eintracht Braunschweig. The club was founded on 12 April 1896 as Hannoverscher Fußball-Club 1896, upon the suggestion of Ferdinand-Wilhelm Fricke and their initial enthusiasm was for athletics and rugby, football did not become their primary interest until 1899. Most of the membership of Germania 1902 Hannover became part of 96 in 1902, in 1913, they merged with Ballverein 1898 Hannovera to become Hannoverscher Sportverein 1896. Hannoverscher FCs colours were black-white-green, but they played in blue, the newly united team kept black-white-green as the club colours, but they chose to take to the field in red, giving the team the nickname Die Roten. The teams third jersey is in the official colours. HSV continued to field strong sides and make national level appearances on into the 1920s, under the Third Reich, German football was re-organized into 16 top-flight leagues in 1933 and Hannover became part of the Gauliga Niedersachsen. They appeared in the final rounds in 1935 and sent representatives to the national side the next year. They won their first national championship in 1938 in what was one of the biggest upsets in German football history when they beat Schalke 04, the two sides played to a 3–3 draw before Hannover prevailed 4–3 in a tension filled re-match. In 1942, the moved to the newly formed Gauliga Braunschweig-Südhannover. Like most other German organizations, the club was dissolved after World War II by occupying Allied authorities. A combined local side was assembled in August 1945 and the month a mixed group of players from Hannover 96. HSV was later formally re-established as Hannoverscher SV on 11 November 1945 before re-adopting its traditional name on 27 April 1946, the club resumed league play in 1947 in the first division Oberliga Nord and was relegated, but quickly returned to the top-flight in 1949. Hannover 96s next appearance in a final would not come until 1954 when they soundly defeated 1. The beaten side included five of the players who would go on later that year to win Germanys first World Cup in a surprise victory known as the Miracle of Bern. In 1963, the Bundesliga, Germanys new professional football league, Hannover played in the Regionalliga Nord that season, but earned promotion to the senior circuit in the following year

5.
Gauliga
–
A Gauliga was the highest level of play in German football from 1933 to 1945. The leagues were introduced in 1933, after the Nazi takeover of power by the Sports office of the Third Reich, the German word Gauliga is composed of Gau, approximately meaning county or region, and Liga, or league. While the name Gauliga is not in use in German football anymore, mainly because it is attached to the Nazi past, some sports in Germany still have Gauligen, like gymnastics, the Gauligen were formed in 1933 to replace the previously existing Bezirksligas in Weimar Germany. The Nazis initially introduced 16 regional Gauligen, some of them subdivided into groups, the introduction of the Gauligen was part of the Gleichschaltung process, whereby the Nazis completely revamped the domestic administration. The Gauligen were largely formed along the new Gaue, designed to replace the old German states, like Prussia and Bavaria, shortly before the Nazis came to power, the DFB started to seriously consider the establishment of such a national league. In a special session on 28 and 29 May 1933, a decision was to be made on the establishment of the Reichsliga as a professional league, four weeks before that date, the session was cancelled, professionalism and Nazi ideology did not agree with each other. With the disappointing performance of the German team at the 1938 FIFA World Cup, in reality, this step was not taken until 1963, when the Bundesliga was formed, for similar reason, after the disappointing performance at the 1962 FIFA World Cup. It did, however, reduce the number of clubs in top leagues in the country considerably, beginning in 1935, with the re-admittance of the Saarland into Germany, the country and the leagues began to expand. With the aggressive expansion politics, and later, through the Second World War, new or regained territories were incorporated into the Third Reich. In those regions incorporated into Germany, new Gauligen were formed, with the outbreak of the Second World War, football continued but competitions were reduced in size as many players were drafted to the German Wehrmacht. Most Gauligen split into subgroups to reduce travel, which became more difficult as the war went on. Many clubs had to merge or form Kriegsgemeinschaften due to lack of players, the competition became increasingly flawed as the list of available players to a club fluctuated on a weekly basis, depending on who was where at a time. Unlike most leagues today, where income is generated from sponsors and TV in addition to ticket sales, but while in todays leagues the hosting teams keep the cash from the ticket sales, this was handled differently in the Gauligen. In the regular season, in cup matches or other competitive matches, the money was shared between the German Football Association, who received 5% of the income, the hosting club, in particular, the hosting club received 10% for using their ground and 5% for administrative costs. The remaining 75% of the income were shared between the two clubs. These relations changed for the play-offs for the German championship, here the matches were usually played on neutral ground, therefore 15% of the income were allotted for renting the ground, administrative cost and travel cost for the teams. The remaining income was divided equally between the clubs and the DFB, for the semi-final and final matches, yet another distribution key was applied. In the semi-final, teams received 20% of the net income, while some areas took until 1947, to restart football competitions, in the south of Germany, a highest league was formed soon after the Nazi collapse

6.
VfR Mannheim
–
VfR Mannheim is a German association football club based in Mannheim, Baden-Württemberg formed in 1911 out of the fusion of Mannheimer FG1896, Mannheimer FG1897 Union, and FC Viktoria 1897 Mannheim. The club captured the title in 1949 with a victory over Borussia Dortmund. They have played through most of its recent history as a local amateur side and were, until 2015. Predecessor sides FG Mannheim, Mannheimer FG Union and Viktoria Mannheim were each founding members of the German Football Association in 1900 and these various Mannheim teams were members of the VSFV and after their merger in 1911 played as VfR through the 1910s and 1920s in the Westkreis-Liga. The club emerged as the champions of the Kreisliga Odenwald in 1922. They took part in the playoffs after their Bezirksliga title and subsequent regional Süddeutschland win. The club finished in mid-table throughout the late 1920s and early 1930s in the Bezirksliga Rhein-Saar, after the 1933 re-organization of German football under the Third Reich into sixteen top flight regional leagues, Mannheim began play in the Gauliga Baden. The club performed well in the leading up to World War II. Mannheim repeated as champions in 1944. However, this decision was revoked after protests from other clubs, Mannheim advanced only as far as the eighth-final before being eliminated by 1. After thrashing Hamburger SV5,0 in the round, they upset Kickers Offenbach. VfR then earned a come from behind 3,2 overtime victory over Borussia Dortmund in front of 90,000 fans in the final, between 1903 and 1944 German national champions were awarded the Viktoria trophy. The 1944 final between Dresdner SC and Luftwaffen-SV Hamburg was the last Viktoria match ever played as the disappeared at wars end. The missing prize was replaced by the Meisterschale in 1949 and was first awarded to Mannheim despite 1, FC Nuremberg being Germanys first postwar champions in 1948. Today the Meisterschale recognizes the countrys Bundesliga champions and is inscribed with the names of national championship team since 1903. The Viktoria has since recovered and is held by the German Football Association. The next year they again met Dortmund in the playoffs, this time in the opening round, however, they would themselves be put out in the next round by Preußen Dellbrück and begin a slide into anonymity. Mannheim played in the second tier Regionalliga Süd formed in 1963 at the time as Germanys new professional league

1900s typical mining structure in the Ruhr, source of the Schalke nickname Die Knappen – from an old German word for "miners"– because the team drew so many of its players and supporters from the coalmine workers of Gelsenkirchen.